O Rinoceronte (1)

O Rinoceronte
de Eugéne Ionesco

Um peça em três actos e quatro cenas.
Apresentada pela primeira vez em Paris por Jean-Louis Barrault no teatro Odéon, em 25 de Janeiro de 1960. Apresentada pela primeira vez em Londres por Orson Welles, no Royal Court Theatre, em 28 de Abril de 1960.

Um excerto, exceptuando didascalias, do Acto I:

"Grocer's wife: Oh that woman gets on my nerves! Too stuck-up to buy from us nowadays!

Jean: Oh, so you managed to get here at last, Berenger!

Berenger: Morning, Jean!

Jean: Late as usual, of course! Our appointment was for 11.30. And now it's practically midday.

Berenger: I'm sorry. Have you been waiting long?

Jean: No, I've only just arrived myself, as you saw.

Berenger: In that case I don't feel so bad, if you've only just...

Jean: It's different with me. I don't like waiting, I've no time to waste. And as you're never on time, I come late on purpose - at a time when I presume you will be there.

Berenger: You're right... quite right, but...

Jean: Now don't try to pretend you're ever on time!

Berenger: No, of course not... I wouldn't say that...

Jean: There you are, you see!

Berenger: What are you drinking?

Jean: You mean to say you've got a thirst even at this time in the morning?

Berenger: It's so hot and dry.

Jean: The more you drink, the thirstier you get, popular science tells us that...

Berenger: It would be less dry, and we'd be less thirsty, if they'd invent us some scientific clouds in the sky.

Jean: That wouldn't help you any. You're not htirsty for water, Berenger...

Berenger: I don't understand what you mean.

Jean: You know perfectly well what I mean. I'm talking about your parched throat. That's a territory that can't get enough!

Berenger: To compare my throat to a piece of land seems...

Jean: You're in a bad way, my friend.

Berenger: In a bad way? You think so?

Jean: I'm not blind, you know. You're dropping with fatigue. You've gone without your sleep again, you yawn all the time, you're dead-tired...

Berenger: There is something the matter with my hair...

Jean: You reek of alcohol...

Berenger: I have got a bit of a hang-over, it's true!

Jean: It's the same every Sunday morning - not to mention the other days of the week.

Berenger: Oh no, it's less frequent during the week, because of the office...

Jean: And what's happened to your tie? Lost it during your orgy, I suppose!

Berenger: You're right. That's funny! Whatever could I have done with it?

Jean: Here, put this one on.

Berenger: Oh thank you, that is kind.

Jean: Your hair's all over the place. Here, here's a comb!

Berenger: Thank you.

Jean: You haven't even shaved! Just take a look at yourself!

Berenger: My tongue's all coated.

Jean: I'm not surprised! You're heading for cirrhosis, my friend.

Berenger: Do you think so?

Jean: Keep the tie. I've got plenty more.

Berenger: You always look so immaculate.

Jean: Your clothes are all crumpled, they're a disgrace! Your shirt is downright filthy, and your shoes... Your shoes haven't been touched. What a mess you're in! And look at your shoulders...

Berenger: What's the matter with my shoulders?

Jean: Turn around! Come onm, turn around! You've been leaning against some wall. No, I haven't got a brush with me; it would make my pockets bulge. Heavens! Where did you get all that from?

Berenger: I don't remember.

Jean: It's a positive disgrace! I feel ashamed to be your friend.

Berenger: You're very hard on me...

Jean: I've every reason to be...

Berenger: Listen, Jean. There are so few distractions in this town - I get so bored. I'm not made for the work I'm doing... every day at the office, eight hours a day - and only three weeks' holiday a year! When Saturday night comes round I feel exhausted and so - you know how it is - just to relax...

Jean: My dear man, everybody has to work. I spend eight hours a day in the office the same as everyone else. And I only get three weeks off a year, but even so you don't catch me... Will-power, my good man!

Berenger: But everybody hasn't got as much will-power as you have. I can't get used to it. I just can't get used to life.

Jean: Everybody has to get used to it. Or you consider yourself some superior being?...

Berenger: I don't pretend to be...

Jean: I'm just as good as you are; I think with all due modesty I may say I'm better. The superior man is the man who fulfils his duty.

Berenger: What duty?

Jean: His duty... His duty as an employee, for example.

Berenger: Oh yes, his duty as an employee...

Jean: Where did your debauch take place last night? If you can remember!

Berenger: We were celebrating Auguste's birthday, our friend Auguste...

Jean: Our friend Auguste? Nobody invited me to our friend Auguste's birthday...

Berenger: I couldn't refuse. It wouldn't have been nice...

Jean: Did I go there?

Berenger: Well, perhaps it was because you weren't invited.

Waitress: Good morning, gentlemen. Can I get you something to drink?

Jean: True, I was not invited. That honour was denied me. But in any case, I can assure you, that even if I had been invited, I would have not gone, because... What's going on? Whatever is it?

Waitress: Whatever is it?

Jean: Oh, a rhinoceros!

Grocer's Wife: Oh, a rhinoceros! Quick, come and look; it's a rhinoceros!

Jean: It's rushing straight ahead, brushing up against the shop windows.

Grocer: Whereabouts?

Waitress: Well!

Grocer's Wife: Come and look!

Grocer: Oh, a rhinoceros!

Logician: A rhinoceros going full-tilt on the opposite pavement!"

Depois deste primeiro rinoceronte, vêm outros. Um a um, todos os habitantes da pequena povoação se vão transformando em rinocerontes. No final, resta apenas um homem: "I'm the last man left, and I'm staying that way until the end. I'm not capitulating".

Um clássico sobre os limites da liberdade, os limites da personalidade e da escolha pessoal. Quem somos quando todos os outros capitularam. Acho de certo modo irónico o nome "teatro do absurdo" para obras que fazem tanto sentido, ainda mais hoje, quando a quase tudo foi retirado o conteúdo programático. Pouco é ainda defensável na cultura ocidental, os anos 60 e 70 se encarregaram de defender tudo o que havia para defender.

Esta peça foi entendida como a capitulação e o colaboracionismo dos franceses face ao invasor alemão. Quando estreou na Alemanha, o público chamou os actores de volta ao palco 50 vezes. Ionesco, francês de origem romena, dirigiu esta peça também ao seu ditador: Ceausescu. Quando um homem está no chão a ser pontapeado, serei eu um resistente?